


Backpacks, Soulmates and Freshers Week

by TheLiteraryMess



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25827358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLiteraryMess/pseuds/TheLiteraryMess
Summary: Originally posted as 'Backpack' on my tumblr @theliterarymess.Prompt: College au where you find the items that your soulmate loses.
Relationships: Betty Brant/Ned Leeds, Peter Parker/Reader, Spider-Man/Reader, Tom Holland (Actor)/Peter Parker/Reader
Comments: 9
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

A/N: Gah I’m sorry this is so bad. I love the idea but I’ve had no inspirtation however, I’m aware I haven’t posted any content in a while and since it’s Peter’s birthday I wanted to do something. Also, Wanda’s appearance in this fic was completely unplanned but I love the idea of college!Wanda. I would’ve made it Shuri but lets be honest, she’d have been the one teaching the lecturers.

From the day you had turned sixteen up until now, you’d gathered up a pretty decent collection of lost belongings. The occasional Lego brick, some shirt buttons, more stationary than one kid could ever need and once an entire collection of avengers trading cards. That last one you had made sure to keep safe, there was no way your soulmate wasn’t gonna want that one back. Over the past year or so, the items that your soulmate had lost were becoming increasingly peculiar. Pieces of technology and once a vial of some suspicious mixture labelled ‘web fluid 2.3’ were strange enough, but the backpacks? There were at least four shoved into the back of your closet. So far they hadn’t held many clues to the identity of whoever your stars aligned with. School books with no names, the usual stationary and a sweater from Midtown High were the only evidence that at least your soulmate wasn’t some old recluse. You did manage to find one gold nugget, quite recently in fact. The sweater had the initials P.B.P penned in the label. You wondered what that stood for. Patrick? Percy? Phoebe?

“Y/N, come on! The car’s loaded up.” Your father called out.

You grinned and zipped your suitcase closed. This was it, the beginning of the rest of your life. College awaited. You were excited to finally have some independence but also a little nervous. You’d chosen a college in New York because it had the perfect course for you, but were you also leaving your one chance at true love behind? Or was this all part of fate’s plan to bring two lovers together? Shaking those conflicting thoughts away, you grabbed one more pair of socks from your draw and heaved it shut, but the wood caught and the entire chest of draws shook, sending your stationary and tidbits sprawling across the floor. 

“Shit!” You huffed and sunk down to your knees, reaching under the unit to grab at the various pens. Your soulmate would welcome the replacement, you were sure, but now you would need to make a pit stop to the local shop

“Dude this is awesome. I can’t believe Ms Stark was able to persuade them to make us roomies.”

Peter smiled at his best friend as he continued to fill his sock draw. “Yeah, well, I can’t exactly be climbing in and out of the window in the suit and scaring the crap out of some poor guy. And restricting the amount of people who know my identity restricts the amount of people in danger for their association with me. Can you unplug that charge wire?”

Ned nodded as he helped Peter pack. “And nobody else would be able to work as hard as your guy in the chair. Don’t forget that.”

The brunette smiled at Ned’s enthusiasm. “Are you kidding? Nobody could ever replace you.” His eyes performed one more sweep of the room. It appeared tidier than it had ever been since he’d moved in after his parents’ death now that most of his belongings were boxed up. It was surely going to make Aunt May cry when she came in to check on them. In true Ned fashion, he had already packed about a week in advance, Peter was pretty sure he was bringing more videogames than clothes. He noticed a thin shape rolling out from under the chest of draws and picked it up as it hit his foot. “Hey, check this out.” He held up the pen, decorated in various Spider-Man illustrations. “She loves me already.”

You were pretty sure the lobby of the library was just as big as the library itself, and it was packed. Freshers week was the biggest event of the year and there were a LOT of freshers. Unlike at high school, you were going to be in classes with students of all ages. Some of them were probably old enough to be your grandparent and you admired them for still chasing their dreams. What made you feel most out of place was the amount of people who had friends here. You’d chosen the university that felt right for you, but that also meant leaving all your friends behind. How could you make a whole new friend group and expect it to be just as great as the one you’d left at home?

“Look at these cupcakes. Do they not realise how obvious it is that they’re trying too hard? We already chose to go here.”

You turned to follow the accent and instantly froze when you saw the tall brunette, dressed in various shades of reds and maroons and looking iconic, just for a welcome event. She wore a baseball cap but her face had been in the papers enough times. Sure enough, she held a cupcake in her hand and the clumsy icing was enough to show they were homecooked.

“You’re the Scarlet Witch.”

Wanda hardly seemed fazed and shrugged. “Yes, I heard that’s what they’re calling me now. I assume they didn’t mean for it to seem so offensive. You looked like a scared puppy. I know what it’s like to find yourself all alone somewhere you’re now expected to call home.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d please make your way through these doors. The welcome talk will commence in ten minutes and seats are limited.”

Wanda barely paid attention to the over-excited student ambassador’s announcement and made no move to follow the crowd.

“I don’t think I can stand that much more enthusiasm. I’m going to find some better coffee and real cake. Let me know if there’s anything exciting, pup.”

“Oh, it’s Y/N.”

Wanda cracked a smile and something about her posture seemed to relax a little. “I’ll see you around, Y/N. Don’t worry too much about not making friends. You’ve got me now.”

You could barely process what had just happened. Were you friends with an Avenger now? There wasn’t much time to complicate the implications, as you were swept into the auditorium the seats were already filling and you needed to grab one fast. These talks always took longer than necessary and the writing on the projected powerpoint showed note taking would be a good idea.

Once settled, you searched through your bag and cursed. 

“Shit!”

This really was a terrible start to the first semester of college. So much for that pit stop to the store. You could probably get away with just taking pictures of the board but that wasn't going to be as effective as writing your own notes so you tapped the shoulder of the guy in front of you. 

“Hey. Do you have a pen?”

Peter sighed and shook his head as he caught sight of Wanda leaving the lobby. He would have joined her but Ned was insistent that this talk was too important to miss. He followed his best friend into the auditorium, sitting in one of the middle rows. The projector was already set up with some contact info and more photos of campus than needed. They’d seen it all on the way in.

“Shit!” Peter jumped a little as his senses picked up on the rustling and frustration behind him. Someone wasn’t very organised. 

He turned his head to talk to Ned but discreetly glanced behind him to see a girl rummaging through her bag. And could he just say…damn. He smiled at the girl when she finally gave up the fight looking for something that clearly wasn’t there and nodded. “Yeah course, one sec.” he looked through his backpack and picked up the Spider-Man pen before deciding against it. It was a cute sentiment for him and although this girl seemed trustworthy, he didn't want to risk not getting it back. Instead he handed her a plain black biro. “Here.”

You sighed in relief and took the pen from the brunette curly haired boy. “Thanks. You just saved me from the worst first day ever. I’m Y/N. Do you have a name or shall I just call you my hero?”

His ears reddened as his friend tried not to laugh and just shook his head. “No. I mean- I have a name- but I’m not a superhero. Not that that’s what you meant but- I just- I’m Peter. Parker. Peter Parker.”

You smiled and nodded. “Hey, Peter Parker.”


	2. Syncing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Peter grow closer, but it's evident that he's holding himself back.

A/N: This is kind of a filler chapter. I had a new idea for this series that I’m gonna work on but more of that in chapter 3. But yeah, I didn’t wanna delete this but it also doesn’t have much to do with the new plot so that’s why it’s kinda shit.

“Ow!” You emerged from beneath the table clutching your head as you glared at Peter, black biro held aloft in your other hand. “Would you quit dropping things?” It was a break between lectures for you and there had been no point in going back to your dorm. Peter and Ned were working on some project and had invited you to join them in the library, Peter offering to stay until your lecture ended so that he could walk you back to your room.

Peter turned round from where he’d been staring at Ned’s laptop, blocking your view, and grinned. “I was just looking for that! Sorry, how’s your head?”

“Why don’t you ask my bruise?”

Anyone would think that you and Peter had been friends forever, but in reality it had barely been fourteen days. You supposed that was just how fast everything moved at college, everybody was so desperate for friends that socialising seemed a little less scary. Peter and Wanda knew each other from an internship that Peter worked in for Stark Industries, the latter seemed rather protective of the boy and you all met up with one another, with the addition of Ned, when you all had free time. Which happened to be a lot. The biggest difference to high school was that you only had one class a day, and more time off than you knew what to do with. It was a good thing you guys were so close to the city, you could just be headed down to the post office together and the next thing you know you’re stumbling out of a bar five hours later and raiding the sweet section of the nearest store. And Peter? Peter was amazing.

“I’m just saying, it’s a little much. I get that they’re souls are intertwined or whatever but does Ned have to update Betty on every little thing that goes on? I’m pretty sure my soulmate doesn’t care that I had leftover takeout for breakfast.” You pointed out as Peter walked you back to your dorm. 

“Y/n/n, consider yourself lucky. I had to deal with it in highschool and before they’d even sussed that they were soulmates.”

“Okay, you make a good point. How do you cope to prevent losing your sanity?”

“You’re going to laugh.”

You stopped walking and glanced sternly at Peter. “I could never. Not without Wanda. “

Peter glared playfully but gave in, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. “Well at first I just reminded myself that they were excited and new to it, I imagined that I would be the same once I found my soulmate. Now, I turn to you. Ned was my only friend for so long and I kinda panicked when he had Betty and MJ and I broke it off. Now I have all of you guys, but you’re around more often and you’re so easy to talk to. I barely notice it when you’re around.”

You smile to yourself, though gazing down at the ground to try and remain composed. “Hey so you’re coming to lip sync night at the union, right? We were all hoping to make it a kind of tradition.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m totally up for that. I think Wanda would kill me if I bailed.” He chuckled as the two of you began walking once again, now approaching your dorm. 

“Most likely. Would you maybe wanna come up and work on a routine for-”

You were cut off by Peter’s phone pinging with a text and his smile dropped as he read it. “Uh, I can’t. I’m sorry, it’s an internship thing. Gotta make that bread somehow. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Uh-” Peter awkwardly kissed your cheek then ran off. Literally. He was running away, leaving you confused and understandably disheartened.

“What is he doing?” You almost fell to the ground while trying to hop onto the stool but you just couldn’t tear your eyes away.

Peter Benjamin Parker. Your close friend, the adorably dorky boy from Queens, science genius with huge dumbass energy, was dressed in a wig, short shorts, a vest and full makeup while lip syncing to ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna. You weren’t sure how many bonus points the union gave for coming prepared in your own costume but you were pretty sure Peter would be the one bringing home the bottle of champagne that was tonight’s prize.

Ned was filming his best friend, MJ was reading as if this was totally normal and Wanda was about to piss herself with laughter. 

“He said something about owing you an apology.” Wanda replied as she passed you the drink she had been watching. “Your round is next.”

You nodded, still watching Peter bust a move. You’d never wanted to be an umbrella before but now you found yourself kind of envying the inanimate object. Peter Parker had moves. Who knew?

“He’s insane.” You breathed. All this for you? He was about to become the campus’ most famous resident.

“I think you mean brilliant. I was starting to worry that these two would be less entertaining once they found their soulmates.” MJ piped up.

“Peter’s found his soulmate?”

Ned turned and glared at MJ. “No, he hasn’t. He just likes someone. And if anything, we’re more entertaining now that we don’t have highschool to keep us repressed. I mean, look at this! He’s the hot girl.”

You put on a smile but the thought of Peter liking someone worried you. Why hadn’t he said something? Why was he so ready to give up on finding a soulmate all of a sudden?”

“So? Am I forgiven?” Peter asked with a small smile.

You rolled your eyes but draped your arms over his shoulders as you pulled him in for a hug. “You were never in trouble in the first place. But yes, that makes up for it. And now I have a video I can blackmail you with.”

You heard Peter scoff and felt his wig tickle your cheek as his hands came to your waist before he pulled back.

“You smell nice. Sorry, that’s weird.” 

“No, no. It’s coconut.” 

“Oh…I kinda like it. Um, do you think you could help me get this off?” He asked hopefully. Your eyes widened a little, and he added, “Not like that! I just didn’t realise it’s better to get proper makeup wipes.”

You smiled and downed the last of your drink. “Come on, Pop Queen, Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Still intent on making up for running out on you earlier, Peter insisted on staying up to watch movies and talk about next week’s lip sync night, so you headed to your dorm.

“Go wait in the bathroom, I’ll put this champagne in the fridge.” 

Peter grinned. “I’m really glad you’re not mad, y/n. There’s so many people here on campus, I’m really glad it was you who needed to borrow a pen.” 

He smiled more and headed to your ensuite room while you tried to keep from melting at the intensity of the gaze and make it to the kitchen. You said hello to your flatmate who was leaving with a tub of ice cream and opened the fridge to put Peter’s prize booze in. As you closed the door though, you noticed another backpack. Another one? You shook your head and opened it up. Empty. Not surprising in New York. Crime was inevitable in such a large city. This time, though, you noticed a name written on the fabric in sharpie. 

‘Property of Spider-Man. Please stop stealing :(‘

Holy shit. No, the real Spider-Man wouldn’t just go writing his name on stuff and for someone who saved the world for a living, he was probably in his 30s. Right. So why would your soulmate steal Spider-Man’s backpacks? Unless… Whoa. Your soulmate was a cosplayer! An unorganised one clearly but it made sense. 

“Y/n/n?”


	3. And Yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter invites you to May’s engagement party where feelings begin to bubble

A/N: Opening scene is taken from a film. If you know it then I love you.  
Warnings: Language, sexual innuendos

The first semester was over and things were going really well! You were getting decent grades and had decided to ignore Peter’s odd behaviour. Neither Ned, Wanda or MJ seemed to have any worries about Peter running off every now and then, even when he wouldn’t be seen on campus until the very next day. You’d already asked if he was dealing drugs but you knew Peter Parker was far too innocent for that kind of business. Instead it seemed he was just very dedicated to his future career at Stark Industries. Speaking of Peter, the two of you were now even closer than he was to the rest of your friend group and he had invited you to Queens for his aunt’s engagement party. She was marrying Tony Stark’s head of security, Happy Hogan.  
“What a lot of movies don’t make clear, is that you’re not going to have just one true love. One soulmate. So when I started finding Happy’s lost items around the house, I was surprised that he could be even the slightest bit unorganised and a little scared. When I was a little girl my grandma used to say, ‘you like because, and you love despite.’ You like someone because of all their qualities, and you love someone despite some of their qualities. That was true with my ex-husband Ben and it’s certainly true now with my nephew, and my fiance. My fiance works too hard, is overprotective sometimes, acts as a human calendar and can not use a pick-up line to save his life.” The crowd chuckled as May locked eyes with her future husband, and you couldn’t believe you were crying already. “Happy…I like you almost as much as I love you. And I can’t wait to marry you, just please don’t send me a voice-recorded to-do list on our wedding day.”  
You glanced at Peter beside you, smiling so hard that his eyes crinkled. It was really nice to see how happy he was for other people. He turned his head to catch you eye as May continued, now with her arm around Happy.  
“Okay I’m sorry. Now get drunk so I’ll have fun stories to tell!”  
You barely noticed the crowd disperse, still gazing intently at-  
“Peter! Is this her? Y/n it’s so good to see you. Let me get you a drink. You’re a college student, you shouldn’t be sober on a Friday night.” May beamed and took you hand in the one that wasn’t wrapped around Happy’s arm and led you to the bar, leading Peter to follow like the fourth wheel.  
“Wow, all the way to the top.” You grinned as the bartender poured your drinks. You loved Peter’s family already.  
“I don’t think we need new shot glasses every time.” Peter agreed.  
“Okay, to the last penis of my life this time!” May toasted. Oh yeah, she was definitely gone. From what you had heard, though, the woman deserved to let loose.  
“I hope that’s me.” Happy said, trying not to look too embarrassed while the three of you downed the shot.  
“So y/n. who’s the penis in your life?” May asked, wiggling her eyebrows.  
Peter flushed bright red. “Okay, no more for now. You’ve met y/n, now spend time with your future husband.” He took her glass and gave it to Happy to watch over then pulled you away.   
“Care to dance?” Peter suggested as Stevie Wonder’s ‘signed, sealed, delivered’ played in the background.  
He grinned and began moving to the beat, mimicking some of the moves from his lip sync while you stood with your hands on your hips. You were far too drunk for tis and Peter was so good even while intoxicated.  
“You’re so good at that.”  
“Like Patrick Swayze, right?” He grinned, shimmying and waving his arms.   
“I just don’t even know what’s going on. I thought you had moves.” You laughed.  
“Just stop thinking!” Peter urged. “Nobody cares. Let’s do it.”  
You glanced around at everyone else, just as drunk as you and certainly not paying attention. You nodded and waved your arms.  
“Alright, just imagine you’re paralyzed,”  
You paused with your arms above your head and Peter laughed.  
“and all of a sudden, you get the feeling back in your limbs.”  
You waved your arms again while jutting your hips.  
“Well, now you’re one of those blow-up air men outside a car dealership.” He noted as you continued making a fool of yourself. “Oh god, no. Hang on, let’s-”   
He grabbed your arm to stop you as a slower song began playing, a lopsided smile on his lips as he held out the same hand when you turned to face him. “Don’t be weird. Just take my hand.”  
You shook your head but placed your hand in his and chuckled awkwardly as you fumbled for a moment before he pulled you closer, exchanging hands so the other was in yours and the one you were previously holding settled on your lower back.   
“You’re a terrible dancer. I still like you, though.” Peter mumbled into your ear.  
“What do you think our and yet’s are?” You wondered aloud as you raised your head from Peter’s shoulder to look at him.  
“What do you mean?”  
“That ‘because, despite things. When there are reasons why it shouldn’t work out, and yet you love them anyway because you don’t care. Like Romeo and Juliet. Their families are mortal enemies, and yet… I don’t know if I have that with anyone.”  
“Well, maybe it’s down to your soulmate. You’re not aware of your own faults. And maybe there’s something about your soulmate that you’ll have to learn to accept because your love overpowers whatever it is. And I guess if you don’t dislike anything about someone, then you’ve made it.” He suggested.  
“But that’s unrealistic. I mean, even friendships have them,” you pointed out. “Like, Wanda can be wildly unpredictable and makes her food way too spicy and cheats at bowling with her powers, and yet I love her,”   
You locked eyes with Peter and the two of you smiled at one another. “You like super nerdy stuff and work too hard and suck at being on time and yet you’re tolerable.”  
“I don’t work too hard.” Peter complained.  
“I’m sorry, why couldn’t you make Ned’s movie night? Ah, that’s it. Stark internship.”  
Peter closed his mouth and just smiled guiltily. “Sometimes it’s hard to take a break when you’re so used to having to prove yourself. You talk and way too fast, and you are way too nice to everyone. Except me, apparently.”   
You laughed at that one.  
“And yet…you are a terrible dancer.”  
“That’s not how it works!” You scolded as he broke away from you, taking both your hands so that he could spin you into his arms.  
You moved against Peter with your back to his chest until he span you out and you gasped, the shots now clouding your mind with one thought.  
“I need pizza!”  
You dragged Peter behind you as you navigated the crowds before finding May with Ned’s family.  
“There they are. Oh thank god, you’re drunk.”  
“Me?” You gasped  
“You.” May chuckled and glanced at her nephew.  
“It was an accident. But it was also incredibly on purpose.” You giggled and grasped her hand, both without thinking and to steady yourself. “May! I’m so glad I met you and I’m so happy for you but there’s no pizza at this party so Peter and I have to go.”  
“Oh well, of course. Go on, get out of here.” She shooed you and Peter away as a man approached her.  
“Where do you want these pizzas, ma’am?”  
“Over there on the table, thank you.”

Peter held the box as you walked along the street to his apartment, but you were starving now as the alcohol was starting to wear off a little and reached over to open the box for a peak.  
“Stop, you’re going to let the smell out!” Peter panicked, trying to close the lid on your hand.  
“I wish that box was my bed.”  
Peter grinned and helped you up the steps. “I know this is not gonna sound how I mean it to sound, but I wanna fuck this pizza.” He slurred a little as he glanced down at you while searching his pockets.  
You giggled, swinging a little on the banister. “I get it. You should never say that to anyone else, but I get it.”  
Peter smiled and you thought it was going to be a moment until you realised he wasn’t making any moves to open the door.  
“Ned has my key.”  
“What? Why would Ned have you key?” You asked incredulously. You couldn’t believe he’s just made you climb all those stairs for nothing.  
“I let him take my car to pick up Betty and I keep my flat keys on the same chain because I lose things so easily.” He defended.  
“Well now what?”  
“I have an idea. But you might not like it.”  
“I’m going to kill you.” You mumbled as he gestured for you to go back down the way you’d came.   
He took the lead once you made it outside, handing you the pizza box as he tugged a dumpster to the bottom of the fire escape.  
“Do you know how athletic I was?” He asked as he jumped on top and reached to pull the ladder down.  
“An athletic nerd? My, you’re really not like other guys, are you?” Came your sarcastic answer.  
“Impressed yet?”  
“I’m so hungry. Too hungry.”  
“Oh god, nope.” Peter grunted when he realised he now couldn’t get the ladder to the ground without falling off the dumpster.  
“You need any help?”  
“Yeah.”  
You chucked and tugged the rest of it down.  
“Gimme the pizza.” Peter instructed as he bent down for it.  
“No, no, no. I’m gonna take it up to the top.” You whined, not wanting to let go of your precious baby.   
“Absolutely not. Your hands are too small. Yoink!” He grabbed the box from you with one hand as you gasped.  
“Peterrr.”  
“I’m gonna hold it with one hand, and I’m gonna move my way up this ladder like a spider monkey.” He explained, holding the pizza higher when you made to grab the box from him. “Stop. Stop it, I got this. Nerdy athlete, remember?”  
“Oh my god!”  
“What?”  
“Keep the top up otherwise the toppings with slide off.” Peter laughed in response as he climbed up one handed. “Please, don’t drop my pizza.”  
“What? Just stop making me laugh.”  
“I’m serious!”  
“Stop making me laugh!”  
“I’m not trying to, I mean it.” You pouted.  
“It is in my possession, I got this.” The brunette assured you as he reached the top and slid it across as you ascended the ladder.  
“Oh, are you okay?”  
“I’m fine.”  
“I was talking to my pizza.” You deadpanned.  
Peter grabbed your hand to help you up then pushed open his bedroom window. To say that this wasn’t how you thought tonight would go was an understatement.  
“Parkour!” He muttered as he jumped over the bed to turn his lamp on before sitting on the ground at the side, holding his arm out for the pizza. “This is the dining room tonight.”  
“Careful.” You instructed, letting him take the box so you could adjust your dress accordingly as you sat. You let Peter hold the lid as you whispered a countdown. “One, two, three.”  
Peter flipped the lid and you both moaned at the sight.Drunk pizza was the best kind.   
“Thank god.”  
“That looks so good.”  
You sat in silence to devour your first slices; you swore you could feel the dough soaking up the shots from earlier. This had to be better than sex.  
“This is the best meal I’ve ever had in my entire life.” You spoke up after another slice.   
You turned to see Peter staring and felt warm, with your cheeks stuffed with food. You probably looked like a chipmunk. You tore your eyes away to finish your mouthful and brushed the crumbs from your clothes.   
“I should probably go. Last train back to campus leaves soon.”  
Peter continued staring until he seemed to register what you meant and looked away. “Slice for the road?”  
“Two please.” You nodded. “But roll it crust side out. I'm a lady.”  
Peter chuckled but did as he was asked and you, with a slice in each hand, stumbled back down the fire escape.

“I think I'm gonna ask her out, man.” Peter glanced up from his desk once again. He and Ned were supposed to be working on their latest assignment. Ned did all the research while Peter converted the information into note form.  
“What, Y/N? What about your soulmate?” Ned asked. How many times had they’d had some variation of this conversation now. Peter was a great guy, really. But he wore his heart on his sleeve and tended to fall for a girl if she so much as smiled at him in a certain way. He was just desperate to be loved. Ned had once been the same, but he understood the importance of waiting for the right person. You were supposed to end up with your soulmate and nobody else. Except Peter didn’t see it that way.  
“Well come on, there’s x amount of people in New York. What’re the chances of even finding them? And, the way I feel about Y/N, my soulmate would probably have to be her to make me feel that way about them. I really like her.” Peter rambled as he looked to his open desk draw, only holding a few hair ties and pens. The most characteristic pieces were the Spider-Man pen and coconut body spray. “I mean, sometimes I even wonder if this girl wants to be found. I don’t want to throw away my most realistic chance at happiness, man. And Y/N…there’s just nobody else who makes me feel that kind of way. So I know that my soulmate isn't around now to watch me slip away.”  
Ned closed his laptop. This assignment clearly wasn’t getting done today. He looked at his best friend. When you’ve known someone for a long time, you could often read them like a book. The hopeful glint in Peter’s eyes and the craving for affection didn’t go amiss by his best friend. “Okay.” Ned finally relented. “What are you going to tell Y/N?”


	4. Let's Not Be Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter makes a confession you aren't expecting

A/N: Well would you look at that? I’m alive! I know I haven’t posted in a hot minute but uni has been hectic and is kicking my ass already. I promise that nothing has been abandoned, I will get round to your requests and Girl and a Sinner. Only Plans and Persistence has been dropped because I’m developing that into a novel.

What does heartbreak feel like? It feels like a hole has been ripped through your chest and your friends are the bandages trying to hold it together but the friction only makes it hurt more. It feels like the lurch in your throat when the boat sways too freely. It’s the nausea that never leaves. It’s the anger, red and buzzing, but you’re only angry at yourself for feeling so broken. It’s not going out of bed, not because you’re sad but because you know that people will see the cracks of your heart littered all over your body and laugh at you for not being good enough. It’s true that wounds heal, but they also leave scars. And this particular scar was the most beautiful of them all. 

“I'm sorry about May the other night. She doesn't drink often but wine goes to her head pretty quickly.” 

It was dusk. You and Peter had been studying in the library all day and now he was walking you back to your dorm, despite it being barely even five minutes away. You kept telling him that he had some kind of hero complex, but you didn’t really mind.

“Which part are you sorry about? The penis thing or the fact that your aunt is way cooler than you?” You asked with a small smirk.

Peter grinned and tugged on your arm so that you fell into step in front of him and his arms came around your waist, lifting you off the ground slightly. 

“Okay I'm sorry! You’re very cool. The coolest friend I have.”

“I don’t want to be friends anymore.” Peter blurted. 

He set you back on the ground and you slowly spun round to face him, expecting to see a playful grin but he looked completely serious, if not a little nervous.

Your heart free fell. Had you not just been having fun? Maybe sometimes you spoke a little too much and told too many dad jokes but you didn't think you were that bad of a friend. How could he be so willing to throw everything away just like that? You thought there was a spark of something, but reality had already blown it out before you had the chance to make a wish.

“Oh…okay.”   
You could barely hear your own voice, but apparently you had whispered loud enough because you noticed Peter’s shoulders slump in relief.

If Peter truly wanted nothing to do with you, then you weren’t going to fight. That was what love really meant. You would do anything to make that person happy. It had been an honour just to know Peter Parker in the first place. And not many people could say they’d had their heart broken by him. 

Peter was getting ready for his big confession, taking a shaky breath as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Oh…okay.”

Wait, what? His shoulders slumped along with his heart. He hadn’t finished and you’d just agreed to not be friends. How the hell could you throw all of that away? He thought for sure that you had returned his feelings. And you were just willing to part ways and never speak again? His jokes weren’t that awful, were they? 

“That’s all you’re going to say?” He narrowed his eyes and scoffed. “Right. Well, I think it's pretty clear how things should go now. You’ve made your decision.”

You turned away from him. Actually turned away as if you couldn't look at him! was this a game? He knew he could be naive at times but surely he would have sensed it?

“Clearly we have. Let’s not be friends.” You mumbled and headed inside without even turning back. You were a heartbreaker and you didn’t even know it.

“Good.” Peter huffed.

“Fine.” You grumbled and pushed past him to head inside. 

Not being friends with Peter was just as hard as you imagined it to be. For starters, you were still taken aback by how quickly he had turned against you, and angry enough that you refused to let him see that your heart lay in pieces, still in the palm of his hand. The main issue, though, was that even if the campus was around 54 acres, you had the misfortune of running into Peter everywhere you went. 

It was all just getting too much, which was what led to the pair of you enlisting the help of Ned and Wanda to keep the pair of you away from each other.

“So here’s the plan,” Peter began, “Ned and I are taking almost all the same classes, as are Wanda and Y/N.” He paused to look at you then tore his eyes away. “So between classes, Ned and Wanda will keep in contact and warn each other of the other’s location ar all times. Ned and I will go to the union bar on lip-sync battle nights, while the girls get karaoke night. And we’ll swap over each month.” He finished and looked around the library study room to make sure everybody understood the agreement the two of you had come to. 

It had been your first conversation in over two weeks.

Wanda glanced at you in concern. “This is what both of you want? Isolation isn’t easy to come back from.”

Ned, too, looked uncomfortable with the plan. “Are you sure this isn’t just some kind of misunderstanding? This isn’t a thing where you say you don’t wanna be friends because you wanna be more than that but they other person didn’t get the message?”

Peter clenched his jaw. “No, Ned. This is what we want.”

You wanted to grab the keyboard and chuck it at his head. This was the furthest from what you wanted with Peter, but it was obvious now that he didn’t feel the same.

“Okay. This is it.” Ned looked over to you uncertainly. 

You supposed the plan didn’t really leave much room for you to hang out with him either.

That’s what heartbreak was like. You lost more than one person. The people you had used to shelter your heart were now memories through blurred glass. It was putting on a facade so that nobody could see that you were wasting away in your own hopelessness. 

Heartbreak was all that remained of your time with Peter Parker.


End file.
